Govt Should Encourage IP Creation, Says Uniken CEO

The focus of Union Budget 2015-16 should be on IP Innovation & Securing Digital Infrastructure, saysSanjay Deshpande, Co-founder & CEO, Uniken. “The current government has already demonstrated its commitment to not only sustain the growth of India’s ICT industry, but also leverage technology across various aspects of the national development agenda. As a company leading the charge in India’s cyber-security industry, we expect the forthcoming union budget to further encourage IT innovation and pervasive adoption of technology as a means of economic growth,” he says.

Despande highlights some of the key areas where the government has a huge role to play and this should reflect in the country’s upcoming Union Budget 2015-16.

Encourage IP creation to emerge as a hub for innovation

The previous budget made an important point in emphasizing R&D efforts on technologies and start-ups that are relevant to India. We believe that the next wave of growth will be led by such enterprises, provided a sustainable business ecosystem for long-term innovation is created, he says adding that accordingly, the upcoming union budget should deliver measures for India to move forward from being an outsourcing hub to an innovation hub. It should leverage our global competency in IT to create an economy that can retain, consume, and export its IP led products and services.

Help Start-ups ‘Make-in-India’

Make-in-India is an important government initiative in leading the change to move beyond a destination for outsourcing, to being recognized as a hub for innovation. We recommend that the government should provision more investments under the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, in order to create a nationwide incubation and acceleration infrastructure for tech entrepreneurs, start-ups, and SMEs. This should include easier access to funding, operational incentives, and a stable compliance framework, says Deshpande.

Aid Transformation to Digital Economy

According to Deshpande, “We also look forward to more initiatives around Digital India. This government has been proactive in terms of technology adoption for eGovernance initiatives, which has also contributed towards expanding eGovernance projects. However, introduction of hassle-free policies to enhance speed-of-implementation is a key deliverable we expect from the next budget.”

He believes that the government should also commit itself towards upgrading the legal framework for digital transactions, and bring it up to global standards. This would lead to greater adoption of tech driven business models, thereby promoting industries such as ecommerce.

Build a Robust & Secure IT Ecosystem

Finally, Deshpande opines that the surge in cyber-crimes and recorded enterprise breaches in India can dent consumer confidence in the digital medium. In addition to a better legal framework, government efforts to secure state-owned infrastructure such as SDCs will prompt India Inc. to follow suit. “We recommend increased grants/investment in bodies such as CERT that are working towards enhancing security standards of Indian ICT,” he sums up.

While many believe CIO's role is evolving and that he's occupying a key place in the boardroom, a recent study brings to light that more than half of the CIO, CTO or IT admin staff (55%) are not thanked by colleagues for carrying out essential IT tasks on their behalf.